dead to rights
(US, idiomatic) With sufficient evidence to establish responsibility definitively.
Etymology timeline
Born ~1854 · 1 year of recorded useSeen in the wild
You have to admit, though, that they have you dead to rights about being a blonde lady.
not particularly a fan of Chesterton, or of That One SSC Essay, but this bit has half of Bluesky dead to rights
Played a legacy challenge the other day (finished top 16) and this screenshot from the final game is what I always want to be doing. One guy, no lands and opponent dead to rights anyway 😍
Definitions
(US, idiomatic) With sufficient evidence to establish responsibility definitively.
Because of the video replay, the ref had him dead to rights on the penalty.
“You have to admit, though, that they have you dead to rights about being a blonde lady.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“not particularly a fan of Chesterton, or of That One SSC Essay, but this bit has half of Bluesky dead to rights”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Played a legacy challenge the other day (finished top 16) and this screenshot from the final game is what I always want to be doing. One guy, no lands and opponent dead to rights anyway 😍”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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